Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebook Giveaway

As with my original review, I am giving away my review unit of the Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebook to one lucky reader. Huge thanks to the crew at Tom Bihn for sending this product my way.

The Field Journal Notebook I am giving away is Navy, as pictured above, but I want to know what color you would pick from the 13 awesome choices currently available. Be sure to leave that in your comment - I'm only picking a winner who follows the rules!

Here are the rest of the details:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Friday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and international residents.
2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.
3. The contest winner will be posted on Saturday, June 4th. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

Thanks and good luck!

Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebook Review

There is no bag maker that impresses me more with their quality than Tom Bihn. Just holding and touching their products makes me smile because I can feel the quality in my hands and see it with my eyes. That is before I even begin using their products, which always surprise and delight with their thoughtful design.

I arranged with Tom Bihn a few months ago to test drive and review their Aeronaut 45 max size carry-on for my pen show travels (review coming soon!) and they surprised me with news of a relaunch of their Field Journal Notebook. I reviewed the original model back in 2010, and they asked if I was interested in taking a look at the latest edition. Yes please!

The Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebook was designed as it was named - for work in the field. Think biologists, geologists, park rangers and anyone that needed a durable, weatherproof way to carry their writing and research tools. As it turns out, it is perfect for artists, writers, journalists, students, and anyone else who wants high quality portable storage for their stationery.

With an exterior made from 1000D Cordura, the Field Journal Notebook can get wet, dirty, and take a beating while protecting your writing kit. The water-repellent YKK zippers add to the durability factor, as does the tight stitching. The tolerances on this case are impressive.

If you need maximum storage in a small format then you are in luck. I count 16 different pockets, and knowing Tom Bihn, there is likely another one or two I haven’t discovered yet. All standard pens and mechanical pencils fit with ease, with only the longest wooden pencils needing to be moved to one of the two pouches they can fit in.

The paper is held in place by a small format three-ring binder which accepts 5 1/2” x 8 1/2” paper (exactly half of an 8 1/2” x 11” sheet). You can choose from grid or lined 100% recycled Neenah Conservation Paper when ordering, or add on Crane's Crest 24# 100% cotton paper as an extra.

For testing, I used the same pens across all three papers. While you’d think the two Neenah papers would perform identically, I slight felt differences between the two. The lined was smoother than the grid, but the lined also had more ghosting on the back. There was no real bleed or feathering, even with my fountain pens, so that is a big plus. In a blind test I could possibly tell a difference, but they are the same paper stock and I could be delusional.

The Crane’s Crest is a different animal. It doesn’t have much texture to the touch, but you feel it when writing. My plastic tip drawing pens had trouble on it, leaving a drier line than on the other paper choices. This makes it great for pencil though, and likely watercolors or heavier media. The Crane’s Crest is also the only page that is perforated.

Click here to see the full size writing sample.

All in all, the paper choices are nice, but if I were a heavy user of the Field Journal I would look at punching my own pages of a paper I know and love.

Filed in the “they thought of everything” category, the three-ring mechanism is removable and can rotate 180 degrees to accommodate left-handed writers, or those writing in other languages. There is also a plastic leaf clipped into the binder that you can move to have a hard backing behind the page when you write.

As with any Tom Bihn product, it is not possible to fawn over it too much. They are that good, and the Field Journal Notebook is no exception. A delightful product made by a delightful company.

The Field Journal Notebook comes in 13 colors with several add-on choices and retails for $90.00.

My thanks to Tom Bihn for sending me this product at no charge for purposes of this review.

Wow has my model grown in 5 1/2 years!

Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebook Winner

I knew this would be a popular contest, and I wish I had many more of the Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebooks to giveaway because they are so cool, but alas, I just have one, and that one goes to:

Congrats Carol!  I think you are very correct in your assertion that once you get this bag in your hands, you are only going to want more Tom Bihn Products!

Here is what I need from you:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Click the About button on the sidebar and email me your mailing address.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and a huge thanks to Tom Bihn for providing me with this product.